How Airlines make Big Bucks from Cargo
Airlines don’t make money just from flying passengers: air cargo is a big business. It doesn’t fly just in dedicated freighter aircraft, but also in the belly holds of passenger flights. And right now it’s booming.
Six reasons why its cool to be a pilot
The magic of flight has fascinated us for well over a century. There are those who are content to sit on the ground and watch aircraft soar overhead. Many of us are excited to be passengers, modern-day jetsetters who travel the globe. But for some, the passion for flight is overwhelming, and the need to fly becomes a lifelong obsession. CNN Travel spoke to six pilots, who told us why it's cool to be a pilot.
How a test pilot flew Lockheed Martin’s LM-100J in a ‘loop’
When in the hands of an experienced test pilot, the LM-100J can execute a beautifully choreographed flight demonstration that will leave crowds in awe. And that's exactly what happened at this year's Farnborough Airshow, which took place just outside London in July.
What it takes to get a plane ready between flights
Airplanes don’t make money sitting on the ground. That’s why the time from landing to takeoff is an efficiently choreographed dance of people and equipment. Known as a turnaround, or “turn” in industry parlance, it’s an airline’s version of a Formula One or NASCAR pit stop. The goal is to get an airliner back in the air as quickly as possible.
Why does IAG want to buy Norwegian?
The aviation world is waiting to see if, or perhaps when, IAG’s CEO Willie Walsh will float a third offer to purchase Norwegian. The parent company of British Airways and Iberia already owns a chunk of the airline, and has been trying to buy the rest — leaving observers with a question: Why, and why now?
North Atlantic Tracks: Invisible Highways in the Sky
Captain James Basnett is at the controls of a British Airways Airbus A380 mega-jet, serenely cruising far above the stormy North Atlantic. More than 450 passengers are enjoying the inflight service, watching a movie or just sleeping away the overnight flight from Boston to London. Comfortably cocooned in the technological marvel that is a modern airliner, the passengers are blissfully unaware that their plane is just one of hundreds in a massive aerial armada heading to Europe from North America.